I'm Really Not A Nen Exorcist (HxH Fanfic)

Small towns near the mountains and forests rarely thrive.

For the adult men in the town, the few small taverns served as their primary source of entertainment.

It didn't take fine wine to satisfy these patrons. Often, they just wanted the right atmosphere.

In one such tavern in the town-

As evening approached, the place was buzzing with noise. The air was thick with the pungent smells of alcohol and sweat, while faint white smoke drifted lazily along the ceiling.

"Hic... did you hear? Not too long ago, someone saw a ghost with glowing red eyes in the southern forest."

A burly man with a bulbous, ruddy nose hiccupped as he looked bleary-eyed at his companion across the table.

His companion, also drunk and flushed red, stammered in reply, "I've... hic heard several people talk... about it."

"Hic, if you ask me, it's all nonsense..."

The man with the ruddy nose suddenly let out a mocking snicker, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"There are no ghosts in this world. These bastards nowadays... hic... they'll do anything, no matter how stupid, just to seize resources."

"You... hic don't believe it?"

His companion, slouched over the table, murmured softly.

The man with the ruddy nose glared and said, "Only an idiot would believe that."

"I've seen it."

Suddenly, a low, gravelly voice came from the next table.

Both the ruddy-nosed man and his drunk companion couldn't help but look towards the neighboring table.

The one who had spoken was a man with a shaved head and a series of stripe tattoos on one side of his face.

He ignored the scrutinizing gaze of the ruddy-nosed man, keeping his eyes fixed on the beer in his glass.

"But it wasn't a ghost. It was a demon with red eyes..."

"Hahaha."

The ruddy-nosed man couldn't help but laugh out loud at this.

The tattooed man didn't react to the ridicule. Instead, he continued speaking calmly: "The red-eyed demon is dangerous. It brings misfortune and death."

"Crazy fool."

The ruddy-nosed man muttered, and his laughter faded as he shot a disdainful glance at the tattooed man.

The tavern remained noisy, and no one paid any attention to such drunken gossip.

As the night deepened-

One by one, the lights in the small town were extinguished.

In the night sky, the full moon quietly disappeared behind thick clouds.

The ever-deepening darkness blanketed the town, with only a few dim streetlights flickering weakly in the night.

"Damn it... I overspent on booze this month, hic... I can't go without it. Tomorrow... I'll find some work... hic... maybe catch a bounty... that'll do, hic."

The ruddy-nosed man stumbled along, using the wall for support as he made his way down an alley.

His heavy, erratic footsteps became the only noticeable noise in the alley.

The ruddy-nosed man's vision blurred as he hiccupped repeatedly. In a rush to get home and sleep, he didn't notice the sound of additional footsteps in the alley.

A pair of eyes, glowing red like blood, slowly emerged from the darkness, walking toward him from the other direction.

Those eyes shimmered with countless tiny, red particles, their breathtaking beauty accentuated by the night's shadowy backdrop.

However-

Even that captivating red light couldn't mask the overwhelming aura of death surrounding the eyes' owner.

The extreme stillness emanating from them seemed to reflect an equally intense emotion.

The ruddy-nosed man suddenly stopped and finally heard the other set of footsteps in the alley.

"Hic…"

He couldn't stop hiccuping, but he slowly turned toward the source of the sound.

At the end of his vision, in the darkness, a pair of glowing red eyes was staring right at him.

"Gah!?"

The ruddy-nosed man's pupils gradually shrank, and look of pure horror spread across his pockmarked face.

"The... the red-eyed demon...!"

The sudden surge of fear welling up inside him made him blurt out the same name the tattooed man had used to describe the creature.

Despite the ruddy-nosed man's terrified exclamation, there was no hint of emotion in those glowing red eyes.

"You, are a Blacklist Hunter?"

A dull and lifeless voice echoed in the darkness, and for a moment, it was difficult to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

"No, I'm not!"

The ruddy-nosed man suddenly sobered up a little and quickly denied the accusation.

If his legs weren't so weak and trembling...

He wouldn't have even bothered to answer. He would've turned and run directly.

The owner of the red eyes didn't say another word. They simply stared at the ruddy-nosed man with that cold, lifeless gaze.

"I, I…"

The ruddy-nosed man, who was feeling numb all over from the stare, stammered: "It's just part-time... I'm only a part-timer..."

"Do you know about the Phantom Troupe?"

The owner of the red eyes stared at the ruddy-nosed man.

"Yes, I know!"

The ruddy-nosed man couldn't help but take a step back.

The red-eyed figure stepped forward in response.

"Tell me."

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you right away..."

The ruddy-nosed man's legs went weak and he slumped against the wall, sitting helplessly on the ground.

"The Phantom Troupe is a A-Class criminal group. People in the industry call them Spiders..."

Facing that creepy gaze, the ruddy-nosed man spilled everything he knew.

He even recounted Moses's feat of breaking three of the Spider's legs.

This event had become a well-known tale within the Blacklist Hunter field, and any seasoned Blacklist Hunter was familiar with Moses's name.

But the strange thing is...

After Moses leapt to become the youngest Single Star Pro Hunter, he suddenly vanished without a trace.

It's been over a year, and there's been no news whatsoever.

This led many bounty hunters to speculate whether the rising star had been killed in retaliation by the Phantom Troupe, or perhaps taken down by criminals who specialized in hunting Blacklist Hunters.

Otherwise, how could someone at the height of their fame suddenly disappear?

The ruddy-nosed man recounted all the information he knew.

When he mentioned Moses, he embellished the story quite a bit. After all, regardless of what the red-eyed demon wanted, the ruddy-nosed man's goal was to shift the attention away from himself as much as possible.

"That's all I know..."

The ruddy-nosed man stammered.

The owner of the red eyes remained silent for a moment before turning and walking away.

The ruddy-nosed man immediately collapsed to the ground, drained of strength.

Outside the alley-

At some point, the dark clouds had scattered, revealing the full moon. The soft moonlight illuminated the earth.

A blond-haired boy was walking on the quiet street like a zombie.

"Spider... Blacklist Hunter... Moses..."

If anyone had been nearby, they would have heard the boy murmuring these words repeatedly under his breath.